About GEN Indonesia

GEN began operating in Indonesia in 2011 when it organized a national Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign in partnership with the Ciputra Foundation. GEW in Indonesia is a highlight of the annual worldwide celebration of entrepreneurship each November.

In 2018, GEN held a global Startup Nations Summit in Surabaya in partnership with the City of Surabaya and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce. Hosted by Mayor Tri Rismaharani and Jonathan Ortmans, president of GEN, the Summit convened leading international experts, policymakers, and influential ecosystem leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region and around the world for detailed discussion of public sector policies that support high-impact entrepreneurship. The event was a major milestone for Surabaya's ecosystem, marking its emergence as a key entrepreneurial hub in Asia and resulting in a host of new initiatives. It also firmly positioned GEN as a bridge between the private sector and the government to ensure policies reflect the needs of modern startups and led to GEN becoming institutionalized in Indonesia.

GEN is registered in Indonesia as a private association. Its mission is to develop and build the national entrepreneurship ecosystem by providing a platform of programs and activities and contributing global resources, networks, and know-how. GEN's key programs for entrepreneurs in Indonesia include Startup Huddle Jakarta, organized in partnership with Impactner Startup Business School. Startup Huddle helps local founders develop strategy, sustainability, and scalability. Its policy advocacy work focuses on entrepreneurship education, decentralization and institutionalizing entrepreneurship in order to shift from subsidized models to sustainable, non-subsidized business models. 

GEN Indonesia's current key policy and strategic initiatives include:

1. Integration with the National Entrepreneurship Map

GEN Indonesia is working closely with Indonesia's Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs and Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) to align local startups in a National Entrepreneurship Map that will help target support toward high-impact entrepreneurs able to scale nationally, regionally and globally. This in turn will help to streamline the transition for informal businesses to become formal legal entities.

2. Decentralizing Innovation (Beyond Jakarta)

GEN Indonesia is advocating policies that support "entrepreneurial cities" through regulatory sandboxes. Working with local governments across Indonesia, GEN Indonesia is providing the expertise needed to initiate regulatory sandboxes that provide a structure for startups to test new technologies (e.g., Fintech or Agrotech) without the immediate burden of heavy national regulations.

In addition, GEN Indonesia's 100 Innovations Program bridges the gap between regional innovators and Jakarta-based corporate investors.

3. Policy Feedback Loops

GEN Indonesia's initiatives (e.g., Startup Huddle) and national network gives it unique insight into regulatory challenges founders face (licensing, digital taxes, labor laws) building new job-creating enterprises. GEN Indonesia funnels this information and knowledge directly to policymakers in order to help them understand why certain regulations might be stifling growth for early-stage companies.

4. Global Talent and Knowledge Exchange

GEN Indonesia leverages its affiliation with the Global Entrepreneurship Network platform to increase:

• Cross-Border Collaboration: It is helping the Indonesian government design programs that allow local startups to enter international markets (and vice versa) with fewer bureaucratic barriers.
• Investment Standards: It is standardizing investment terms to make Indonesia a more attractive destination for foreign venture capital.

5. Entrepreneurship Education

GEN Indonesia is focused on shifting the "mindset" of students and educators rather than just teaching business mechanics by making entrepreneurship a fundamental part of the national curriculum and providing practical training through global networks. Its key activities include:

• Mindset Transformation: GEN Indonesia is advocating curriculum reforms that support creativity and innovation as arising from the learning process, specifically emphasizing that failure is a necessary part of learning.
• Workshops for Educators: It is hosting sessions for teachers and academics on developing "growth mindsets" and entrepreneurial habits that they can pass on to students.
• Roundtables for Policymakers, Educators, and Students: It hosts an on-going series of sessions on teaching and learning curriculum in partnership with President University and Universitas Pembangunan Jaya, during which policymakers, academic leaders and students discuss how Indonesia education system should evolve to better support innovative thinking.

VISION

Because entrepreneurship is the fundamental backbone of Indonesia's economy, GEN works to continually evolve sound policies and extensive infrastructure in order to mature its national ecosystems.  GEN Indonesia is contributing to this national effort by providing a platform of evidence-based programs and activities aimed to preparing our entrepreneurship ecosystems to propel our talented founders of today and tomorrow.